Teeny tiny little ones

Today was my first day in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I wasn't expecting to enjoy it. During our first day of clinical this semester when we took a tour of all the units we were going to be on the NICU seemed like such a sad place to be, considering the one patient I saw was a 24 week, drug addicted baby whose parents had never visited.

It wasn't as sad as I thought it was going to be. I mean, there are sad parts to every story, hardships, difficulties, hurdles; overall though, it was such a neat environment. I loved it. LOVED it. It helped that the nurse I followed was awesome, a UMHB grad who had so much passion and enthusiasm and wanted to help me learn (that makes all the difference!). All 3 of our patients were stable. Oh so tiny, and oh so precious. "C" and I cuddled for about an hour after I fed him because he just did not want to lay in his isolate all by himself. It was crazy to me that I was holding a human so small. His little head fit in my hand, and his feet didn't even reach my elbow. I got some new experiences with tube feedings through a gastrostomy button, and also learned the art of changing a 1lb baby's diaper.

One of the more serious babies was in a room close to where my patient's were, she had a myelomeningocele, which is the most serious forms of Spina Bifida. I got the opportunity to do a quick assessment on her with one of the nurses. It was so interesting, and scary. I know you don't want a nursing lecture right now but let me just tell you about this...part of this baby's spine, and spinal nerves were on the outside of her body! She was only about 4 hours old, so they were still doing tests on her, but they knew she was also missing part of her cerebral cortex, which is fairly common in infants with this type of spina bifida. She was breathing on her own, only had a small amount supplemental O2, and could move her arms legs...amazing!

The real amazing part of all of this though was when her parents came in to see her for the first time. I had no idea what to expect. I tried to put myself in their position. I imagine myself going into the NICU thinking that I was going to try and be strong, then getting in there and seeing my baby (who I thought was going to be perfect and healthy) and not being able to hold it together. Instead they walked in with camera in hand and gleamed with pride over their little one. Mom put a pink and white bow in her hair while dad took pictures, then they leaned over her and I snapped their first family photo. I'm not sure what they taught me. But I know that they taught me something. Maybe to be joyful and grateful even in the toughest times. I'm sure they are struggling, but in that moment all that showed was their enormous love for their baby. It was inspiring and precious.

I think I might want to work in the NICU some day. A tiny part of my heart was stolen by those tiny humans (and their parents) today.